HomeUplifting NewsHail-damaged Colorado Mills restaurant continued to pay its employees while it was...

Hail-damaged Colorado Mills restaurant continued to pay its employees while it was closed

September 4, 2017

Lakewood, CO - MAY 9: Jesus Munoz, of Professional Restoration, hooks up hoses to dry out the Colorado Mills Mall on May 9, 2017 in Lakewood, Colorado. The mall's roof was damaged in the recent hail storm. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

LAKEWOOD — When baseball-size hail split the roof at the Colorado Mills Mall last spring, Manny Martinez was working the flat-top grill and deep fryers in the Yard House’s kitchen.Just as he has for the past 14 years.So, it came as a shock to the father of three when managers told him that the water-logged sports bar and restaurant would have to close indefinitely so it could be dried out and refurbished. Suddenly, Martinez feared a job he had held at the restaurant since it opened at the mall in 2003 was gone.“I was worried,” he said.That concern quickly turned to relief when the company announced to its employees a few days after the May 8 hailstorm that not only would they keep their jobs, but they would continue receiving full wages while the mall’s roof was replaced and the restaurant revamped. In return, they would have to do volunteer work and …READ MORE ON DENVERPOST.COM